Storage-oil-tank protector.



. W. & G. CLIFTON.

STORAGE OIL TANK PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR-7,1916.

Patented July 10,

T,%33,0Q&

wi/lmuoeo (at Mum;

TITEU @TATWd FATET UFFIWE.

HARRY W. CLIFTON AND GEORGE CLIFTON, OF KANOPOLIS, KANSAS.

s'ronAeE-oIL-muK rno'rnc'ron.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July It), 19117.

Application filed April 7, 1916. Serial No. 89,697.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that HARRY W. CLIFTON and GEORGE CLIr'roN, citizens of the United States, residing at Kanopolis, in the county of Ellsworth and State of Kansas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Storage-Oil-Tank Protectors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to protectors against fire especially adapted to be used upon storage oil tanks and it consists in the novel features hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of the invention is to provide a protector of the character indicated which is of simple and durable structure and which will effectually protect the tank against fire caused by lightning or explosion or any other cause of ignition.

With this object in view the structure includes a series of doors or lids hingedly mounted at the uppermost portion of the top ofthe tank and which normally lie over openings provided in the said top. -The said doors or lids are so arranged that an excess of pressure Within the tank may escape through the openings under the free edge portions of the doors or lids but under normal conditions the said doors or lids remain closed whereby the contents of the tank is protected and the entrance of foreign substances into the tank prevented. In the event of sudden creation of pressure within the tank incident to fire or explosion the doors or lids may be forced open by the pressure thus relieving the tank and con tents of the same but as soon as the pressure is reduced to normal the said doors or lids close automatically and thus shut off the external air sufficiently to extinguish any fire which might remain in the tank.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a top plan View of the invention.,

Fig. 2 is a detailed sectional view of one i of the doors.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the tank cut on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

The tank to which the device is applied has the usual cylindrical body lwhich is provided with a cone shaped top 2. The top 2 is provided with a series of openings 3 which are arranged in the form of a circle and spaced from each other. The arrangement of the openings 3 is concentric with the center of the top and the said openings are spaced from the peak or center of the said top. A hinged'door or lid 4 is arranged to normally lie in an inclined position over each of the openings 3.

Each opening 3 is surrounded by a combing 5 and the door 4 is hinged at a point between its opposite side edges and below its under face to one side of the said combing. The top 2 of the tank is provided with openings (3 which are located beyond the opposite side of the combing. Rods 7 are attached to the free edge portion of the door at and pass through the openings (3. (oil springs 8 surround the said rods 7 and bear at their upper ends against the under surface of the top The lower ends of the springs S bear against heads 9 carried at the lower end portions of the rods 7. The springs 8 are under tension with a tendency to hold the doors I in closed posi tions over the combings 5 and openings 3.

Ducts 10 lead in from the sides of the body 1 and extend up along the under sur face ofthe top 2 and the upper ends of the said ducts terminate above the upper edges of the openings 3 and in the vicinity of the peak or highest point of the top 2.

In the eyent that the said tank is struck by lightning or an explosion should take place therein from any other cause the excessive pressure created within the tank will escape from under the free edges of the doors or lids l bv lifting them and as soon as the pressure within the tank assumes its normal condition the said doors i will close whereby the external air is shut off from the interior of the tank and any fire which might remain in the tank is extinguished inasmuch as the source of oxygen is cut off through the openings Thus the excess of pressure created within the body of the tank escapes therefrom by lifting the free edge portions of the doors a and as soon as the pressure within the tank assumes normal the said doors 4 close. The ducts 10 prevent the accumulation of gas under excessive pressure in the upper portion of the tank inasmuch as when the gas begins to accumulate and assumes compression it is forced through the ducts 10 out of the tank. Thus under normal conditions the excessive gas pressure may escape from the tank without lifting the doors 4.

When the doors 4 assume closed positions following an explosion, of the gas in the tank the smoke which may be trapped in the tank passes out through the ducts 10 and extingnishes any flame which may remain at the outer ends of the said ducts.

Having described the invention What is claimed is z- An oil tank having a. conical roof provided with an opening located at a point below the highest point of the roof a. spring retained door hinged to the roof and normally closing said opening, and a duct leading into the tank at the side thereof at a point below the roof and extending in an inclined position under the roof and terminating at its inner upper end at a point beyond the upper edge of the roof opening.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence. of two witnesses.

HARRY V. CLIFTON. GEORGE CLIFTON. Witnesses M. C. lVATTs, WM. L. HUGHEs. 

